RIYADH: Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Secretary-General Yousef Al-Othaimeen has also called on the international community to increase assistance to hunger-stricken Somalia.

He urged UN agencies and civil society organizations to help address the dire humanitarian situation in Somalia, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on Friday.

Al-Othaimeen on Thursday urged the international community to invest in agriculture, livestock and fisheries in Somalia, help advance its energy infrastructure, forgo the country’s debts and assist in restructuring its security services.

He warned that Somalia is on the brink of a catastrophic famine brought about by acute drought conditions compounded by years of poor rainfall, which has affected the entire Horn of Africa, where more than 17 million people are facing terrible hunger.

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“In Somalia alone, more than 6 million — about half of the population — are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance,” the OIC said on its website, quoting Al-Othaimeen.

He said stability in Somalia could suffer a serious setback amid a grave humanitarian situation marked by rising internal displacement, economic regression and growing extremism.

He added that the dire humanitarian situation may seriously affect all of Africa given the strategic geographic location of Somalia.

Hundreds of thousands of vulnerable Somalis are on the move in search of food, water and treatment for malnutrition and disease.Close to 1 million acutely malnourished children need treatment, including 200,000 severely malnourished children who are more vulnerable than any other group and need immediate life-saving support.